8 movie news updates, what to see this weekend

Hey everyone! This is the first official entry in Unwind’s movie coverage blog. In the coming months, I’ll be submitting weekly entries with reviews of new movies, recaps/analysis of awards shows, and round-ups of movie news from the past week. This week, I’m reviewing Christopher Nolan’s new blockbuster “Interstellar,” as well as commenting on the new “Star Wars” subtitle, new teaser trailers released this week, casting news for David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad,” and much more!

One of the first big stories of the week was the announcement of J.J. Abrams’ episode VII subtitle, “The Force Awakens.” This reveal is in line with a long stream of cheesy “Star Wars” subtitles and is the first major hint fans have gotten as to the plot of the film. It seems to back up the rumor that the story will follow a search for a missing Luke Skywalker, though with the first trailer coming soon, it won’t be long before we have a better idea of what Abrams has in store for us.

Another huge story was the announcement of “Toy Story 4.” This is one Pixar franchise (unlike “Cars”) that seems to be endlessly profitable. While many will be less than enthusiastic about the franchise being revived yet again, the return of creator/director of the first two films, John Lasseter, should help sway the more skeptical movie goers.

Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” received an official synopsis and cast list. The western looks like a return to Tarantino’s indie roots with a more focused and less ambitious story. That being said, the cast is still Oscar caliber and should be a huge hit with devoted Tarantino fans and casual moviegoers alike.

Two new trailers were released this past week. The second and final trailer for Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies” looks incredible.

While the series has been underwhelming thus far, this final installment will hopefully help right the ship and validate the decision to make “The Hobbit” a trilogy. The second big trailer this week was for “Into the Woods.”

Disney’s live-action musical rendition of several classic fairy tales looks just dark enough and has enough star power to have cross-demographical appeal and should be more successful than Disney’s last live action fairy tale attempt, “Maleficient.”

Matt Damon, fresh off his unadvertised turn in “Interstellar,” has confirmed his involvement in the next “Bourne” film, coming in 2016. Following the less-loved Jeremy Renner vehicle, this team-up of stars/assassins will undoubtedly be one of the biggest hits in 2016.

The rumor that “Stay with Me” singer Sam Smith will be voicing the next James Bond theme has resurfaced, making him the favorite to win the job over other rumored candidates like Lana Del Rey.

Legendary Studios has released the official cast list and character descriptions for their upcoming “World of Warcraft” adaptation, “Warcraft.” The film stars Toby Kebbell (“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”), Paula Patton (“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”), Dominic Cooper (“Captain America: The First Avenger”) and Ben Foster (“Lone Survivor”) among others. The story seems grand in scope and aims to appeal to fans of the video game franchise as well as non-players.

Possibly the biggest story of the week is the casting announcements for director David Ayer’s (“Fury”) “Suicide Squad.” The film will be the third film in DC’s movie universe, following 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” and is looking like one of most promising superhero flicks, out of the 40+ being released over the next six years. In addition to a superb director, the film is now rumored to feature Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) as The Joker and Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) as Harley Quinn. If those massive talents weren’t enough, Jesse Eisenberg will be reprising his role as Lex Luthor and rumors of Tom Hardy and Will Smith’s imminent casting persist. Ayer has described it as “’The Dirty Dozen’ with supervillains,” and if that doesn’t get your engine running, I don’t know what will.

What to see this weekend:

This weekend will bring the releases of Oscar-bait “Foxcatcher,” as well as the long-awaited sequel “Dumb and Dumber To.” Whether you’re more excited for the disturbing character drama or the antics of Harry and Lloyd, this weekend has something for everyone.